Facebook Expands 'Partner Categories'

Facebook in April introduced a targeting feature called “partner categories” that uses members’ online
purchasing histories and location to tailor ads. It allows marketers to target ads across some 500 specific audience segments using third-party data from providers including Acxiom, Epsilon and
Datalogix.

Today, Facebook announced doubling the number of partner categories available through the Power Editor tool to more
than 1,000. These include ones in the retail and auto verticals including active buyers of women’s accessories, active buyers of sports and outdoor products, and auto intenders in the market for
a Subaru Outback.

“The goal of partner categories targeting is to give brands the ability to reach people who have expressed interest in their type of brand or product/service,”
stated a Facebook post Wednesday. As an example, the company said Hyundai recently used the feature to reach auto intenders, resulting in the sale of 2.1 times more cars to that audience.

Facebook also reiterated its assurance that no personal information is shared between itself, third parties or advertisers in the process. “The advertiser only knows the size of the audience
and can’t access any information about individuals included in a category,” it stated.

To gain access to the new categories, Facebook said marketers and agencies need to
re-download Power Editor.